Wanted: 25 special customers.

We’re working on a entirely new product, and I’m looking to meet some potential customers. We can meet in person, over the phone, or via Skype, etc.

The tool is for the small business owner who runs a company of between 25 and 75 people. You used to be smaller, but now you’re bigger. And you experienced some personal growing pains along the way.

When you were smaller, you used to know everyone a bit better. When you were smaller you used to be in the loop a bit more. When you were smaller you used to have a better feel for what everyone was thinking and feeling. When you were smaller you used to know what everyone liked – and didn’t like – about the direction of the company.

But now you’re bigger. And now you’re struggling to stay on top of it all. Or maybe you didn’t really care that much before because things took care of themselves. But now, you have to pay closer attention since you’re responsible for a lot more people. You care deeply about your team, and your company culture, but sometimes you feel like you don’t know enough to act decisively.

This is my story. And I have a hunch there are a lot of small business owners out there just like me. This tool can help you individually, and together we can all help each other.

We’re using this tool as we’re building it, and in the past few weeks I’ve learned a lot about my own company. We’ve already implemented some of the company-wide changes that bubbled up from what I’ve learned. These insights wouldn’t have materialized without this tool.

We’re only looking for 25 perfect customers right now. I want to get to know every single one personally. And I want to do everything I can to make this product outstanding for those 25 people. I want to help each customer to make incredible progress using this tool. I want it to change their company for the better.

So if you’re a hands-on business owner running a company with anywhere from 25-75 people, and you kept saying “yes, I totally know what you mean” when you read the story above, I’d love to hear from you. Please email me at jason@37signals.com and tell me your story. If I feel like you’d be a great fit for this product, I’ll tell you more.

Kris Gösser

The temporal nature of idea generation is such an interesting thing to think about.

Best of luck on the new product!

Richard

on 02 May 13

Isn’t the entire point of growing a company is so that you can delegate tasks like the type of tasks mentioned in the blog post.

Kevin

on 02 May 13

@Richard, just because you CAN delegate something doesn’t mean that you want to. Even though I now have 12 people working for me, sometimes I enjoy fixing a failing spec or intervening on a customer service issue. Jason’s free to do whatever his heart desires.

ecbp

on 02 May 13

@Richard
That’s why Jason is looking for special customers that care about those things as their company’s grow; folks that delegate those tasks are probably not who this product is for.

Scot

on 02 May 13

@Jason

“I want to get to know every single one personally. And I want to do everything I can to make this product outstanding for those 25 people.”

How do you reconcile this, which seems to be significantly “quality” focused, with your thoughts the other day about “Quick and Dirty”? Thanks for sharing as always!

Patrick Huizinga

on 02 May 13

@Scot,

The way I read it, Jason doesn’t say to always try to do things quick and dirty.
Even if that post was about this product, the ‘quick and dirty’ phase was just about the proof of concept of the product. After the concept was validated, came the ‘make it good’ phase.
My guess is that phase is just over and now their new product is ready to meet the cruel outside world.

Mark Gibson

on 02 May 13

I have to say that that is a great piece of writing. You described “the pain”, made the reader empathise with your position and then presented a way forward. Our business is still micro but you made me want to be a part of this anyway… whatever it is!
That’s good writing :)

Javier [Emastudios.com]

on 03 May 13

Does it matters if the team is offshore? Or they have to be in the United States for the test?

Curious

on 03 May 13

Is it like “Chatter” but done right?

Jason Fried

on 03 May 13

Nothing like Chatter.

David Meyer

on 03 May 13

Would it be possible even if the communication language is not english. Like Basecamp can be used in any language as long as the team has enough english skills.

TB

on 03 May 13

@jason

I’m confused, who exactly are you looking to meet?

Other business owners? Is that your target market?

Jason Fried

on 04 May 13

“Other business owners? Is that your target market?”

Yes.

Narendra Goidani

on 04 May 13

I believe it is a superb idea. I am a part of two organisations. One is into training ( 8 people – www.lifeschool.co.in) The other is into construction ( 17 people – www.eklavyabuilders.com )

We want to be an international organisation within 5 years with Rs 10 million as our turnover.

If you are interested, we are !!!

With love, prayers and best wishes,

naren

David Meyer

on 04 May 13

It makes me think again…... international organisation in 5 years … 10 million …. did this person read the text or was she ever interested about the work ethics of 37signals before…...

Karthi

on 05 May 13

Good Luck

Brett F

on 07 May 13

I’ve liked a lot of things you’ve written @jason, but this by far the most. I’m not your target, but best of luck – your starting from an amazing place.

Thie Thomsen

on 08 May 13

After finishing Rework first, I started in Ricardo Semler’s ‘7 day weekend’. I can’t help but read a little control issue in your post. Maybe you should check Semler out (No doubt you already have). :P

But judging on how Basecamp turned out, I’m more than confident this new project will turn out great.

Brad

on 08 May 13

Jason, I’d be interested in learning more about this endeavor. I run a creative agency in NYC that fits the criteria you’ve outlined above. I’m happy to talk with you at length about our evolution. Here’s my Linkedin page if you’re interested in learning more about me before you reach out: http://linkd.in/16Y0Q5u

This discussion is closed.

About Jason Fried

Jason co-founded Basecamp back in 1999. He also co-authored REWORK, the New York Times bestselling book on running a "right-sized" business. Co-founded, co-authored... Can he do anything on his own?